I am a Christian and I appreciate having a distribution that includes the Bible Study tools that Ichthux does. Yes I can access most of this information on-line but it is nice to have it available on my desktop. I appreciate the effort that the team has gone through to make this distribution focus on the Lord. There are over 2000 different distributions now in 2010 and if people aren't pleased with this distribution then I would be happy to suggest another for them. I love the screen backgrounds and its nice to get that gentle tap on my heart to pause before my day starts and spend a little time praising the King of Kings. Thank you for the blessing this distribution has already been for me and my family. John Abbott Mission TX

Well the kingdom of heaven is pretty important to them and having a linux distro is no different than a windows theme for them or a bumper sticker on their car.

I am a Christian and I believe that every action I take should be made to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, but honestly, I'm not real sure of what to think about all of this mess. As an IT professional with a wife and two kids, I can appreciate the high cost of software At the same time, however, I am rather irritated by the fact that Microsoft keeps charging hundreds of dollars for professional level tools when very similar Linux based tools can be obtained for free. So then you ask, why I don't just dump Microsoft and use Linux?

Well, I know this is stupid but the term "deamon" really disturbes me. In Linux and UNIX, "deamon" is often used to describe a background process to perform a certain task. The daemon might be for mail routing, garbage collection, disk defragmenter, audio or anything else that needs to run behind the scenes.

Why did the some of the most philanthopic people in the world such RMS and Linus chose to allow such offensive terminology? My Computer Scientist mind tells me that these are just background processes, but my Christian ideals tell me that there is something strange about creating Christian Art or products using an OS filled with "daemons"

Knowing that Bill Gates was a wonderfully kind atheist, I started looking around Windows XP. Over time, I looked in the registry, ZoneAlarm, the internet and and just did some outright observation to realize that I encountered the following Microsoft Windows deamons:

1. A Microsoft Office Database Daemon http://www.entourage.mvps.org/glossary/daemon.html
2. A Microsoft T-SQL Full Text Search Daemon http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2008/09/05/sql-server-creating-full-text-catalog-and-index/
3. The Win XP Drivers for my Nvidia card also apperently use a daemon as seen in both my registray and by way of a ZoneAlarm altert.
4. My registray shows an "IE Component Categories cache daemon" (I guess used by Internet Explorer)
5. I once installed Kodak Easy Shared in Windows XP and encountered an Daemon for ArcSoft greeting card software.

So I really don't know what to think anymore. Microsoft Win XP does a better job of hiding these "daemons" than Linux does but Microsoft still uses them. Maybe I should ask Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Linus and RMS a question? If one's utilimate goal was to produce the most usable, popular and freindly OS in the world, why would one use the highly offensive term "daemon" to describe nothing more than a background process?

I am lost in an infinitely recusive loop trying to decide between Microsoft and Linux.

Best,

nonterminal_recursion

There are a couple basic reasons. 1. Internet filtering - There's a lot of trash out there, a Christian version can help shield us from objectionable content. 2. Software related to Christianity can be included - Bible study programs, graphics, clip art, even programs like verse which is like a Bible version of fortune. 3. Christian themes and artwork - a lot of churches need clip art they can use in bulletins and announcements. These can be included in a version of Linux. Sadly, they're not included yet. 4. Why not? Linux is customizable. Why NOT have a version that caters to us? There's a Muslim edition of Ubuntu as well. If we can use Linux to help bolster our faith then isn't that like reason 857 to use Linux? Just some thoughts.

This is an wonderful idea to have a version for Christians we are a unique people we do not want a poisonous athiest idealogies in our minds to be filled. i like this idea pastor john missionallianceindia@yahoo.in

I'm new here, just found this website tonite, so please don't take my comment as criticism. From what I can see so far, this is not a version of Linux, it's just a desktop environment (DE) that is downloaded around the latest Kubuntu. I haven't read everything yet, but I wonder if it will work around xubuntu, I much prefer XFCE to KDE .... or maybe even Fluxubuntu? My question would be "Will there ever be an Ichthux 'version' rather than just a DE? (like UbuntuCE or Linux Mint or one of the other derivatives)" I still haven't found out what all is included in this DE, so I don't know if it's worth buying a copy of one of the *buntus to find out. (I can't burn, because my burner went TU). Thanks, mispa

Hello, Yes I am aware of the *nix history and who took part in it. As said by other people, a lot of things in this world were invented by people who were not Christians, yet I do not prevent myself from driving cars, eating bread or putting on shoes... Yes RMS, Linus Torvalds, and many others are atheists, that is a fact, but our goal is in no way to create a "holy" operating system (to use an expression I found in a mail I received). An operating system is just like a chair, a table or a spoon: an object. My goal is not to make it holy, but to encourage people to make a holy use of it. I would like people to be able to read and study the Word of God as they use their computer, instead of putting God aside when they turn on the screen. Even as you talk about the atheists who created GNU/Linux, there is an interesting fact. Don Parris, a pastor involved in LXer and author of the book "Penguin in the Pew", once wrote to RMS about Linux vs. Christians. RMS answered him that although he was not a believer, he believed that the open-source model really fit Christian values, and that Christians should be among the first people to adopt it. And indeed I have been amazed to discover how many developers in Debian/Ubuntu were Christians, as I expected to find only a handful. Now why did I stop this project based on Linux, rather than another OS? Well first, because the open-source values are very important to me, which is also why I have been an Ubuntu developer for a year now. Secondly, I do not think I could create a new OS out of Windows or MacOS, even if I wanted to... There is a choice to be made at a certain point anyway, and my choice of OS had already been made years ago with Linux. I do not support Windows. There are technical reasons for it, and also philosophical reasons. I do not need to consider whether Windows was created by Christians to come to the conclusion that Windows is not doing any good. Non Christians see it too, and it's not inherent to Windows itself, but to the way it is spread and used to control people. I do not think I need to be more explicit on this, as you will find tons of sources (by Christians or not) on the net about this subject. In all things I seek to please the Lord and let Him guide me in my work. God bless Raphaël

Hmmmm.... I dont think Rapheal is necessarily creating a version of the Linux operating system just for Christians. Anyone is welcome to use Ichthux. I dont think he started this because of what anyone else has done because of whether they believe in God or not. I think he put this together because he has a real love of God and wanted to share that in a particular way. As for the people mentioned, I dont have complete info on their religious beliefs. (Except maybe Jobs) Ive read comments on the net that lead me to believe that most are not Christian. But if whoever designed a TV, a radio, a hammer, a nail, or anything else, would I not use it if that particular person was not a Christian? Because I know that who ever designed the above did it because they were talented, and talent is never learned or can be taught. It comes from only one source. As to what Rapheal motivations are and tolerances, I'll let him speak his mind on that subject. Thanks.